Will reading cause myopia?

Question

All my life I had good vision until I turned 19-20 yrs. of age. I began reading a lot of novels. I read for 5-6 hours straight on a daily basis during that one year. During that time I noticed that when I stopped reading my vision would be blurred and it will take a few minutes to get back in focus. But as time went on and I read more books it was harder for me to get my eyes to focus on distant objects.
Some people say that myopia is because of the shape of the eye or that it’s genetic. But that can’t be in my case. I used to have good vision and members of my family do not suffer from myopia.

I’m 25 now and my myopia did not progress… I also do not read as much as I used to.

I have heard of the Bates method. I was wondering if it will work in my case?

I heard its true. Here is a website that covers it. http://www.preventmyopia.org/flashanimation.html

Answer 1

Not all types of myopia are created equal. What I mean by that is this. Many times, myopia is an inherited trait that first presents itself at or around the age of 8 and then progressively worsens until about the age of 18 to 21 and then tends to become pretty stable for the remainder of life. Studies have shown that this type of myopia is simply and only hereditary in nature. BUT, there is also evidence that in some circumstances (you would fall into this category) that indeed myopia can occur in response to how the eyes are used.

There is much debate of exactly how this may happen. The theory I feel most comfortable with (if indeed it does occur) is that some people when they focus the eyes for a prolonged period of time develop an increase in pressure in the posterior chamber of the eye. This constant prolonged increase in pressure slowly causes an increase in the axial length of the eye (the eye becomes longer). This increase in length results in myopia. Once the eye has actually increased in length, unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any effective way to reverse this situation. According to this theory, the wearing of reading glasses (which reduce the amount of focusing the individual must do) will prevent or minimize the increase in posterior chamber pressure and thereby prevent an increase in the axial length of the eye. That's the theory anyway. Some say this theory is full of poo poo though. (I'm not one of them.) Hope this helped.

Answer 2

I wouldn't have thought that reading would have caused short-sightedness. My generation read all the time, and it wasn't until I was 30+ that I needed glasses. I do have Myopia in my right eye..But indeed it is not neccessarily genetic, but is usually a gene defect.Don't know what the Bates method is, but my present glasses are perfectly fine for me. They are what is termed tri-lens.Most people are going to end up needing glasses. A far better idea than ruining your sight. Good Luck!

Answer 3

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Answer 4

I believe it's hereditary. I have this problem and so does my older daughter. Neither of my parents had it and my sister had lazy eye instead. We went back a few generations and found a great-grandfather who had it. In my particular case, this problem skipped a few generations before showing up in me.

Answer 5

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